Toll From Pakistan Quakes At 400

A survivor of the Balochistan earthquake sleeps near the rubble of his mud house.

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Toll From Pakistan Quakes At 400

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QUETTA, Pakistan -- The provincial government of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province says the official death toll from two recent earthquakes stands at 400.

Balochistan's chief minister, Abdul Malik Baloch, speaking in the provincial capital Quetta, said a 7.7-magnitude earthquake on September 24 and another 6.8-magnitude tremor on September 28 had injured 800 people and left 100,000 homeless. Previous reports in the Pakistani media put the death toll above 500.

His comments came as relief work in the restive province continued. The rough terrain and the lack of paved roads have made access difficult for rescue staff.

The Pakistani military has been air-dropping supplies and using helicopters to carry away the injured. But military personnel have come under attack from separatists operating in the areas.

With reporting by the "Express Tribune"

Radio Mashaal was launched in January 2010 in order to counter a growing number of Islamic extremist radio stations in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan.